Britain Deserves A Pay Rise Tues 17 Oct

Below is a motion on pay that I and others will be submitting to the NUT National Executive on Thursday 5th Oct

“We note that teachers are on average £5,000 a year worse off in real terms since 2010.

We note that other public sector unions are campaigning for a real pay rise.

In particular we note 14 health unions have written to the government, not waiting on pay review bodies, demanding a 3.9 percent plus £800 rise – matching the current RPI measure of inflation which includes housing costs and a flat rate on top to begin to restore cuts in living standards.

We resolve to draw up a pay claim along similar lines that is appropriate to begin to reverse the cuts in teachers’ living standards and submit it before the planned demonstration on pay in London on 17 October.

We further resolve to launch a campaign in the wake of that demo with the aim of preparing the union to be able to call and win a national strike ballot if the government does not meet our claim.

Such a campaign should include pay rallies around England and Wales, preferably alongside other public sector unions also fighting for a real pay rise. We should invite Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell and other members of the Labour Party leadership to join such rallies.

The campaign should also include popularising the claim by flooding schools with material such as posters, stickers, flags and the like. We should also see what lessons can be learnt from the campaign by the CWU to ensure a high turnout in their ballot in Royal Mail.

Consideration should also be given to using tactics such as internal union indicative ballots or online ballots to prepare the ground for calling and winning a national action ballot.”